Plant, Soil and Environment

ISSN 1214-1178 (Print)
ISSN 1805-9368 (On-line)

An international open access peer-reviewed journal published by the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences and financed by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic Published since 1955 (by 2002 under the title Rostlinná výroba)

The journal is administered by an international Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief: prof. Ing. Václav Vaněk, CSc.
Co-editors: Ing. Jan Haberle, CSc., Mgr. Jan Lipavský, CSc., prof. Ing. Daniela Pavlíková, CSc., prof. Ing. Pavel Tlustoš, CSc., dr. h. c.
Executive Editor: Mgr. Kateřina Součková
The journal is published monthly

Aims & Scope

experimental biology, agronomy, natural resources, and the environment; plant development, growth and productivity, breeding and seed production, growing of crops and their quality, soil care, conservation and productivity; agriculture and environment interactions from the perspective of sustainable development. Articles are published in English.

Types of published articles: original scientific papers, information, review studies, communications

Current issue

Effects of various nitrogen fertilisers applied in autumn on growth parameters, yield and quality of winter oilseed rapeOriginal Paper

David Bečka, Lucie Bečková, Jaroslav Tomášek, Vlastimil Mikšík, Mária Viciánová

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):317-325 | DOI: 10.17221/68/2024-PSE

The aim of this trial was to verify the influence of various autumn-applied nitrogen fertilisers on the growth, yield and quality of winter oilseed rape. In the three years, small-plot field trials were carried out at the Research Station Červený Újezd (50.0697044N, 14.1659086E). The hybrid cultivar DK Exstorm was chosen, with a sowing rate of 50 seeds/m2. Five fertilisation regimes were tested: (1) nitrogen-free control; (2) CAN (calcium ammonium nitrate); (3) ANU (ammonium nitrate urea); (4) U (urea), and (5) US (urea with N-(n-butyl)thiophosphoric acid triamide (NBPT) inhibitor). A uniform dose of 40 kg N/ha was applied at the end of October. Fertilisers...

Sustainable controlled-release urea placement depth reduces lodging risk and enhances spring maize productivityOriginal Paper

Wennan Su, Xuefei Tian, Fangyuan Huang, Mingjing Wang, Mengtian Wang, Yexuan Zhu, Tao Yan, Xiangling Li

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):326-341 | DOI: 10.17221/41/2024-PSE

Deep placement of controlled-release urea is an effective fertiliser management strategy for improving the maize productivity, but it is not clear whether and how controlled-release urea depth affects the stem and root lodging of spring maize. Two consecutive years of field experiments were conducted to elucidate stem and root lodging properties and their relationship between grain yield and lodging behaviours under various controlled-release urea placement depths. Results depicted that compared to broadcast nitrogen treatment (D0), deep controlled-release urea significantly decreased the stem lodging rate by 34.7–80.4%, which contributed to...

Partitioned nitrogen fertilisation in peanut rhizosphere and geocarposphere drives specific variation soil microbiomesOriginal Paper

Haiyan Liang, Qi Wu, Liyu Yang, Dianxu Chen, Pu Shen

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):342-355 | DOI: 10.17221/498/2023-PSE

Peanut is a plant characterised by belowground fruiting that absorbs nutrients not only through its roots but also through its pods. However, little is currently known regarding the species of bacteria that contribute to nutrient absorption and utilisation in this plant’s pod and root zones. This study examined the effects of root and pod area nitrogen (N) fertiliser application on peanut rhizosphere and geocarposphere microbial communities and functions. Using two peanut cultivars [nodulated Huayu 22 (H) and non-nodulated NN-1 (B)], we applied the following four treatments: no N fertiliser (HT1, BH1); N applied to geocarposphere soil (HT2, BT2);...

The content and potential ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in coastal wetlands around the Bohai SeaOriginal Paper

Yingchun Lv, Mengyi Wang, Wanxin Tian, Haibin Hui

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):356-365 | DOI: 10.17221/24/2024-PSE

Coastal wetlands play a vital role in the migration and transformation of heavy metal pollutants in watersheds. There were 30 surface sediment samples that were analysed to investigate the distribution and ecological risks of heavy metals in the coastal wetlands around the Bohai Sea. Our results showed that the average concentrations of Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd in these wetlands were 17.92 ± 5.81, 50.29 ± 20.50, 31.53 ± 9.71, 25.37 ± 4.29, 80.13 ± 15.11, and 0.92 ± 0.54 mg/kg, respectively. Relative to other wetlands, Pb (25.43 ± 2.68 mg/kg) and Cd (1.67 ± 0.06 mg/kg) contents were higher in the Liaohe Delta...

Physiological and metabolic responses of Lolium perenne L. roots to acid stress in cadmium-contaminated soilOriginal Paper

Xingrong Bai, Lili Chen, Zhaojie Wang, T. Ryan Lock

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):366-376 | DOI: 10.17221/494/2023-PSE

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) has potential in the phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil due to its strong Cd accumulation capacity and high biomass. In this study, we investigated the growth physiology, Cd accumulation, and metabolites of L. perenne roots under different soil acid stress levels (pH 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 and 6.0) and Cd concentrations (100 and 0 mg/kg) after 90 days of growth. The results showed that soil acid stress significantly impacts the remediation capability and physiological metabolic properties of L. perenne. Based on root Cd content and enrichment coefficient, soil pH between 4.5 and...

Synergistic nitrogen fertiliser effects on nitrogen metabolism of wheat in saline-alkaline landOriginal Paper

Xiaoqing Yuan, Yajun Li, Yan Shi

Plant Soil Environ., 2024, 70(6):377-393 | DOI: 10.17221/398/2023-PSE

In this study, a synergist made of itaconic acid, maleic acid, acrylic acid and other active ingredients polymerised was sprayed on the surface of nitrogen (N) fertiliser particles to make synergistic nitrogen fertilisers (SNF). To explore the effect of SNF on N metabolism of wheat in saline-alkaline land, five treatments were set up: CK – ordinary N fertiliser (299.86 kg N/ha); T1 – SNF (299.86 kg N/ha); T2 – SNF (239.89 kg N/ha); T3 – SNF (179.92 kg N/ha); T4 – SNF (119.94 kg N/ha). The aboveground dry weight of wheat, the photosynthetic characteristics of wheat flag leaves, the activity of the N metabolism enzyme of...